clcgh.org Building The Capacity Of Christian Leaders, Equipping The Saints For The Work Of Ministry, Redirecting Straying Christians To The Sound Knowledge Of Christ
Christian leaders are chosen and appointed in the churches of Christ Jesus to interpret the Scriptures to fellow believers.
Thus, they are called to the ministry of the Word and prayer by which they communicate divine will of God for humanity to do the will of God on earth.
Preaching and teaching the Word of God, therefore, is giving the Word as food for the souls of men who eagerly hear it.
To hear the Word of God eagerly is to hear it excitedly, willingly, enthusiastically or readily.
Now, the first thing ministers do before they give the Word of God to others is to receive it. They may receive it directly from God in their heart as they meditate or through supernatural encounters such as dream or visions.
They may also receive it by inspiration through diligent study of the written Word book by book, page by page, sentence by sentence and word by word.
This makes it imperative for preachers and teachers to have the Word of Christ richly dwelling in our hearts before they can give it out.
Truth is: what we do not possess we cannot give. We give what we have. This is why Paul wrote to the Colossian Church asking them to, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching… (Colossians 3:16).
A Christian minister is not fit to teach others unless he has had the Word of Christ abundantly living inside of him. The Word of God you have is not what you have in your hand but what you have in your heart. This is a bare truth.
All preachers and teachers of God’s Word both in the Old and New Testaments first learned to receive the Word of God in their spirits. They received it through training and preparation.
Read about Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Samuel, Ezekiel and the Apostles and you will know how they were trained in the Word of righteousness by God and men before they started ministering. It is the same principle Paul took Timothy through.
A minister of the gospel ought to be an avid reader of the Bible and other books written by anointed servants of God.
It is not proper for a man of God to just read through the passages of Scriptures he will quote in his preaching and teaching.
Unfortunately, this is what many do these days. They do not spend quality time to study the Bible with meditation to receive revelations so they can feed the souls of believers with deep wisdom of God.
We must humbly repent and begin to study as Timothy was told to do for the glory of God and our own blessings.
By James Quansah
